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Although there is not yet a published study, an informal accounting shows a marked prevalence of Type As among autistic children. Recently, there has been positive feedback on the efficacy of the blood type diet in some Type A children with autism. Since the Type A Diet limits several dietary lectins thought to interfere with secretin, it is not too far-fetched to consider that improvement in these children may have actually resulted from enhancement of their own secretin metabolism.

Secretin stimulates the liver to produce bile, and triggers the pancreas to begin secreting 'pancreatic juice'. As with the stomach juices, pancreatic juice and bile are heavily impregnated with ABO blood type antigens. However, as with the stomach secretions, we do not exactly know for what reason. It has been shown that wheat germ agglutinin, but not soybean, inhibited secretin production by about 57%. The effects were completely suppressed by administration of the lectin-blocking sugar N-acetyl-D-glucosamine. (1)

There has been some interest recently in the use of secretin as a therapy in autism. Autism impacts the normal development of the brain in the areas of social interaction and communication skills. Children and adults with autism typically have difficulties in verbal and non-verbal communication, social interactions, and leisure or play activities. The disorder makes it hard for them to communicate with others and relate to the outside world. In some cases, aggressive and/or self-injurious behavior may be present. Persons with autism may exhibit repeated body movements (hand flapping, rocking), unusual responses to people or attachments to objects and resistance to changes in routines. Though autism is thought to be limited only to males, actually one in five autistic children are female.

One abstract (2) on secretin and autism. reported a study of three children with autism and gastro-intestinal problems. The study indicated that after secretin infusion, gastro-intestinal function improved, and the children became more sociable and communicative.

There has been some positive feedback on the efficacy of the blood type diet in some children with autism. There are no published study, but a recent informal poll of autistic children seemed to show a marked prevalence to type A. Since the type A diet limits several dietary lectins thought to interfere with secretin and cholecystokinin, it is not too far-fetched to consider that improvement in these children may have actually resulted from enhancement of their own secretin metabolism through the avoidance of secretin-blocking lectins.

Over one half million people in the U.S. today have autism or some form of pervasive developmental disorder. Its prevalence rate makes autism one of the most common developmental disabilities.